teacherg u i d e SEPT 23 THROUGH OCT 23, 2016
PHIL ADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY at the
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PHI L ADELPHI A THEATRE COMPANY at the
Sara Garonzik
Priscilla M. Luce
Executive Producing Director
Executive Managing Director
PRESENTS THE
THEATRE EXILE PRODUCTION OF
Written by
BRUCE GRAHAM BASED ON THE BEST-SELLING BOOK RIZZO: THE LAST BIG MAN IN BIG CIT Y AMERICA BY SAL PAOLANTONIO, PUBLISHED BY CAMINO BOOKS, INC. featuring
DAMON BONETTI WILLIAM RAHILL Scenic Design COLIN MCILVAINE
ROBERT DAPONTE SCOTT GREER PAUL L. NOLAN AMANDA SCHOONOVER STEVEN WRIGHT
Costume Design KATHERINE FRITZ
Production Stage Manager ANNIE HALLIDAY
Lighting Design MIKE INWOOD Director of Production ROY W. BACKES
Sound Design & Original Music MICHAEL KILEY
Projection Design CHRISTOPHER ASH
Dramaturg CARRIE CHAPTER
Directed by
JOE CANUSO RIZZO was commissioned by Theatre Exile, Philadelphia, PA, Deborah Block, Producing Artistic Director RIZZO is produced by special arrangement with Bruce Ostler, BRET ADAMS LTD.
Support for the research and development of RIZZO was provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
ABOUT THE SHOW
SEASON SPONSOR
Following Frank Rizzo’s trajectory from beat cop to Police Commissioner to Mayor of Philadelphia, this raw and timely drama explores the life of Frank Rizzo as he prepares for the 1991 mayoral election. A big guy who left an indelible impression on Philadelphia history, Rizzo governed with a street-brawler’s bravado that both cooled and fanned the flames of racial unrest. After two terms in office, voters in 1991 were about to cast another ballot for their hero or against the villain they inadvertently helped create. 3
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Frank Rizzo (top right)
The Cisco Kid
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W. Wilson Goode (second from left), Frank Rizzo (far right)
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The New York Times Obituary for Frank Rizzo:
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r. Rizzo was one of those seemingly larger-than-life figures, destined to be hero to some and villain to others. One view was that the former Police Commissioner and two-term Mayor was the last bastion against threats to middle-class residents of the city's row-house neighborhoods. The other view was that Mr. Rizzo was a barely educated former police officer who used a hard line on crime and tactics bordering on the dictatorial to suppress opposition and keep blacks out of middle-class neighborhoods; the 'Tough Cop' Image. Read the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/17/obituaries/frank-rizzo-ofphiladelphia-dies-at-70-a-hero-and-villain.html
VICE on The Brutal Legacy of Frank Rizzo:
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he police of his day knew Rizzo as ‘The General,’ and he certainly cut a commanding figure: 6'2, 250 pounds, a 19-and-a-half inch neck (Mike Tyson, for comparison, is a 20-and-a-half). You might say his appeal was a bit like that of Donald Trump: Rizzo fashioned himself as a tough decision-maker who said what he meant, tact be damned. ‘[The Black Panthers] should be strung up,’ he once said after ordering raids on the group's offices throughout Philly. ‘I mean, within the law. This is actual warfare.’ Rizzo seemed to lean on cops as an instrument for heading off social change in a city being seismically altered by capital flight, and rising poverty. His imposing frame and brash aphorisms symbolized security. Read the full article: http://www.vice.com/read/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-mostnotorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022
Philadelphia Magazine says Donald Trump is Frank Rizzo, Reborn:
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his election has some racism,’ admits DiSipio, acknowledging that his candidate can be blunt, or worse. His pick doesn’t have the typical qualifications, either, but for DiSipio, that’s part of the appeal. ‘He’s going to stand behind his word if it kills him. He can flunk at it, but you can’t say he won’t try.’ Traditional elites and professional politicians are baffled that such a man could rise so high in the polls. He defies political conventional wisdom at every turn, flouting party leaders and blithely dropping quotes that would wreck any other campaign. ‘This is not a normal election,’ a Republican operator tells a Washington Post reporter. ‘All normal voting patterns are out the window.’ This sounds like a dispatch from the Republican presidential primary campaign, and the candidate sounds a lot like Donald Trump. But the quotes are actually from
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Philadelphia circa 1971, a time when a big bloc of the city fell for a different candidate who radiated authority and charisma — someone who would take charge and tell things as they were. That candidate was Frank Rizzo, whose unpolished tough-guy bravado, labor-friendly conservative populism and strident appeals for law and order spoke directly to the concerns of struggling working- and middle-class whites. Today, Donald Trump makes a very similar case to very similar voters. Read the full article: http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2016/01/31/donald-trump-frankrizzo/#JmxqdqCcJ5B1Mekh.99
Newsworks on the Controversy of Center City’s Frank Rizzo Statue:
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rank Rizzo—the police commissioner and mayor who stripped Black Panthers naked in the street, beat peaceful black teenage demonstrators, and oversaw a police force that the Pennsylvania Crime Commission said was rife with corruption—is immortalized in 10 foot bronze statue in the shadow of City Hall. It’s time for the Frank Rizzo statue to come down. At a time when national data compiled by the Washington Post shows that unarmed African Americans are five times more likely than their white counterparts to be shot and killed by police, we can no longer celebrate the purveyors of police brutality. Not if we’re serious about change. And make no mistake, Frank Rizzo, who once famously showed up in a tuxedo with a nightstick in his cummerbund to direct his officers, remains a strident symbol of police brutality in our nation. Read the full article: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/the-philadelphia -experiment/95719-frank-rizzo-statue-should-not-greet-dnc
The Daily Beast Proclaims Donald Trump has the Frank Rizzo Factor:
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ast forward to the age of Trump. Growing uneasiness about jobs, and threats to American security, have created historic anger, frustration and angst. We can do better, Donald Trump assures us. We can be great again. The way he says it is Frank Rizzo-like. Trump is running for President at a time when many Americans feel the system is broken, the world is dangerous, opportunities are narrowing, and no leaders are stepping up to do anything about it. Harvard’s Benjamin Friedman, who penned ‘The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth’, believes public figures like Rizzo and Trump ascend when economic growth is unequal. ‘Every time you go through a period in which the bulk of American families lose a sense of getting ahead…problems start to appear.’ As does a collective thirst for remedies. Like Rizzo, Trump is unafraid to tell it like it is. Read the full article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/26/donald-trump-sfrank-rizzo-factor-the-hidden-vote.html
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#1 DO-NOW ACTIVITY Directions: Before students enter the classroom, write these three phrases on the board:
My relationship to politics is My hope for the future of this country is I could get more involved in my community by
Allow students time to fill in the blanks, and then, if you wish, share with the class!
#2 FOUR CORNER DEBATE Classroom Setup: In the four corners of the classroom, put up signs saying Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. Directions: 1. Choose a Frank Rizzo quote below as your debate prompt, and allow students to pick their corner. Helpful Tip: you may use the middle area as neutral. 2. Once students have chosen, give them 2-3 minutes to deliberate on their stance, and choose a representative to then voice the opinions of the group. 3. Each representative has 30 seconds to deliver their stump speech, sharing their points of view. 4. Allow for rebuttals between the corners, facilitating a healthy debate. 5. Allow students to be swayed and choose their final corner. Note: if you allowed folks to be neutral, they must now choose a corner based on what they heard. 6. RINSE AND REPEAT with a new Frank Rizzo quote. Frank Rizzo Quotes: ”The streets are safe in Philadelphia. It's only the people who make them unsafe.” “We need excellence in public education and if the teachers can't do it, we'll send in a couple of policemen.” “Busing is no good. When you bus kids, they don't earn nothing.” 10
#3 THREE SNAPSHOTS Preparation: Start with a close reading of a scene from the script of Rizzo or dive into one of the provided articles on pages 8-9. After the reading, split students into groups of 4-6. Jumping off point: In our current media climate, we are kept in the know via video content in the news and on social media. In the time of Frank Rizzo, it was photographs. As a group, you will take on the task of documenting moments as theatrical photojournalists. Directions: 1. Students should choose a moment that struck them from the reading. 2. Students will create 3 frozen pictures to tell the story of this moment. As if a photographer has taken a picture, all each student should depict are three single frames from the moment of investigation. 3. Give 5-7 minutes for completion and then share with the class. Goals: How do we create tension and the appearance of movement with the use of space and our physical bodies? How do we tell a story with no words in three frames?
#4 RUNNING FOR MAYOR VS. FRANK RIZZO (worksheet on back) Directions: Based on readings of Rizzo and the video examples below, students will create a 30-45 second election ad to be presented theatrically in the classroom. 1. Break into groups of 4-5. Note: All group members must be in the advertisement. 2. Groups will have 5-10 minutes to create their campaign ad by following the guiding questions on the worksheet. Remind them to include: 3 issues they would focus on for their platform, a statement to discredit their opponent, how they feel they can positively affect the future of Philadelphia, and a campaign slogan. 3. Each group should present their work in front of the class. Post-Activity Discussion Question: What tactics did groups use to discredit their opponent Mayor Rizzo? Additional Activity: Host a debate between your classes’ top picks for mayoral candidates from those developed in the previous activity. Video Examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf0VweOcdeA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_iwzNWIMmQ 11
Let’s Challenge Rizzo! Your Race for Mayor of Philadelphia Name: Frank Rizzo is up for election, and it’s your job to take his place and become the
NAME: next ___________________________________________________________________________________________ mayor of Philadelphia! Answer the following prompts to guide you in your
creation of is a 30-45 advertisement. Frank Rizzo up for second election campaign and it’s your job to take his place and become the next mayor of Philadelphia! Answer the following to guide you in your creation of a 30-45 second camList 3advertisement. issues you plan on addressing during your time in office: paign List 1. 3 Issues you plan on addressing during your time in office: 1. 2. __________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________
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3. __________________________________________________________________________
Write a statement that discredits the beliefs of your opponent, Frank Rizzo:
Write a statement that discredits the beliefs of your opponent, Frank Rizzo:
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ List 3 ways you will positively affect the future of Philadelphia:
List 3 ways you will positively affect the future of Philadelphia:
1. __________________________________________________________________________
1. __________________________________________________________________________ 2. 2. __________________________________________________________________________ 3. 3.
Your Campaign Slogan:
Your campaign slogan: ____________________________________________________________________________
FIRM But FAIR